Сherry alley appeared at the territory of the sports complex Luzhniki: it was traditionally planted by the participants of the Open Arts Festival Chereshnevy Les. 330 seedlings equal to the numerous "cherry movement" enthusiasts were planted near the Grand Sports Arena in Luzhniki within the active Sunday Cherry Planting. The Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Pavel Kolobkov, the Ambassador of the Italian Republic in Russia Cesare Maria Ragalini, the General Director of the Luzhniki Alexander Pronin, the ambassadors of the Football World Cup Alexander Ovechkin, Alexei Nemov, Ilya Averbukh, the legendary football players Valery Nepomnyashchiy and Eugeny Lovchev as well as other well-known cultural figures, athletes and officials acted as experienced and first-time gardeners this day.
The solemn part of the event was held at the Grand Sports Arena, where a grand reconstruction for the upcoming Championship is being held since January 2014. The participants of the festival Chereshnevy Les were the first to see the stadium, which should be opened soon. The guests were given a special excursion, during which it was possible to fully appreciate the scale of the preparation of the main sports arena of Russia. Everyone was happy to test seats on the stand, as well as the acoustics of the stadium rehearsing several traditional cheers & chants under the leadership of Mikhail Kusnirovich.
"Chereshnevy Les has never planted trees with such an effect, with so many beautiful words and official speeches. After all, we were honored to be the first to test the main stand of the Grand Sports Arena this year. The Luzhniki complex was opened 61 years ago, and my mother, Edith Kusnirovich, has planted trees within the work-for-the-nation days dedicated to this event, so the history was looped. And I'm taking off the helmet before the builders who made this miracle with the stadium, and there will be the Opening match and the World Cup final soon," - the head of the BOSCO DI CILIEGI group of companies Mikhail Kusnirovich summed up at the opening of the event.
After the official part, the gardeners of Chereshnevy Les started their favorite part of the event – tree planting. The head coach of the "Russian Gardening Team" Mikhail Kusnirovich gathers the team to plant new cherry forest for the seventeenth time. In spring, BOSCO gardens blossom in Neskuchny Garden and in Gorky Park, at a square in front of the Pushkin Museum, in the Michurinsky park at the All-Russian Exhibition Center and at the Palace of Pioneers at Vorobyovy Gory, at the square in Chistye Prudy near the Sovremennik Theater and in Ordynka under the windows of Anna Akhmatova's apartment in Moscow, in the Mikhailovsky Garden in front of the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg and in the park near the Sochi Seaport and even in the Italian city of Sorrento, symbolizing the restoration of the lost Chekhov's "cherry orchard" and the continuity of the cultural tradition.
The work has started to hum along: after getting all the necessary gardener’s equipment including shovels, watering cans, gloves & galoshes, the guests divided into teams and started to work. The Moscow State Jazz Orchestra conducted by Igor Butman was responsible for the musical accompaniment of the Sunday Planting.
Now, thanks to the efforts of the cherry movement enthusiasts eight trees, named in honor of the football legends of the countries participating in the Confederations Cup-2017 grow next to the central alley: Luis Figo (Portugal), Hugo Sanchez (Mexico), Harry Kewell (Australia), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Ivan Zamorano (Chile), Lothar Matthaus (Germany), Ivan Vicelich (New Zealand), Rinat Dasayev (Russia).
Immediately after the planting, the solemn awarding ceremony of Oleg Yankovsky Creative Discovery Prize was held at the open stage of the Luzhniki for 8th time in a row.

Jaguar Land Rover Russia is the official partner of the XVII Open Arts Festival Chereshnevy Les. The entire Jaguar Land Rover range was presented at the territory of the Luzhniki complex. The guests were presented with test drive certificates of any model in Jaguar Land Rover Experience Center in Novorizhskoe highway. Special electric cars’ test drive was arranged for the youngest guests. Jaguar Land Rover employees together with their families took an active part in the tree planting. The participants of the project moved around driving exquisite Jaguar cars during the festival: compact sports sedan Jaguar XE, business sedan Jaguar XF and Jaguar F-PACE, which is on sale since June 2016 and has already become a real sales driver of the company.